D3X73R

Grover was off (AmE from ) school yesterday (because of a (BrE) dodgy tummy , and we had the following exchange: G : Is there a fruit called currant ? Me : Yes, there's blackcurrant and redcurrant . G :  No, but is there any such thing as a currant? Me : Yes. Black and red. G :  But is anything called currant ? Me : Yes, black currant and red currant.* G : But I'm talking about currant . Me : OK. There are berries called currants . And they come in different types. And one is black and the other is red. G : Ohhhh. OK. *I'm not even getting into white currants here, which are from redcurrant bushes. The conversation is confusing enough. The problem in our conversation became clear to me the fourth time she asked her question. In BrE blackcurrant and redcurrant are compound nouns. Since they're one word, they only have one primary stress (i.e. syllable you emphasi{s/z}e most in speaking). You can hear a compound/non-compound stress difference in She was a greengro...

I feel bad moving the frown post from the top spot on the blog, seeing as it has been AMAZING. In one week, it's had 11,000 more hits than the math(s) post has had in nine years! (And that one is one of my most popular posts!) "Reviews" of the frown post include "mind BLOWN" and "I am FREAKED OUT". It is indeed so very weird that such a big meaning difference could be hidden from so many people for so long, when the evidence of the difference is all around us. Huh! (To comment on frowns , please go to that post.) But I have a solemn and happy duty today: to announce the winner of the poetry competition to win a copy of  Oliver Kamm 's Accidence will happen: the non-pedantic guide to English . The winner, by my studied judg(e)ment and popular acclaim is: MJ Simpson Here are the winning words. In suspenders and pants and a vest, Looking nerdy - but smart - I impressed. In the States that was fine But a Brit friend of mine Thought me kinky and qu...

A 2010 blog post from the Prosody Lab at McGill University was pointed in my direction last week, and judging by the reaction when I tweeted it, I'm not the only one who was surprised by the should-be-evident-but-nearly-invisible difference between British and American it reported. The post is by a non-native speaker of English, 'chael' (who I assume is Michael Wagner, the lab director) and it starts (with my added highlighting): Three weeks ago me and a good friend were standing in front a piece of art by Jon Pylypchuck at the museum of contemporary art in Montréal. The exhibition is still on until January 4th, and I recommend checking it out.  So looking at one of the faces, my friend asked the following question, which to me was very confusing: “Do you think this is a frown or a moustache?” Whatever ‘this’ was, it was clearly below the eyes, and also, the facial expression was sad–so how could it be a frown? My understanding of frown was what I later found in...